Georgios Marinakis: At MTIS, AI is no longer a novel concept

George Marinakis, CEO of Maritime Technology Innovative Solutions (MTIS), refers to the developments of Artificial Intelligence and how this new technology is shaping business models in all sectors and more specifically in shipping, in an interview to maritimes.gr.

Q: Business models across all industries are on the brink of transformation, driven by the rapid advancements in Artificial Intelligence. How do you see this technology reshaping the future?

A: It’s best summed up by the LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman’s phrase: “In the next 5 years, every profession will have an AI co-pilot.”

Well, rising acceptance that the shipping industry needs technological tools and solutions which will be able to transform real-time data into accurate and more precise business decisions, it coincides with a parallel rise in AI, and computation in general, to improve care and outcomes.

I believe that very soon the AIs will “anchor” in everyday shipping operations, acting as cognitive fellow workers to onshore employees and onboard personnel, supporting extraordinary or routing tasks, monitoring massive volumes of data generated by contextual data acquisition and sensing activities, finding the interesting gold-nuggets in all the previously invisible circumstances, and creating high-quality insightful for accurate decisions. In some way, the partnership with AI will become a necessity in the very near future.

For example, in the future, it will be considered malpractice to predict changes in vessel performance without AI in the loop. Performance analysis could take the relationship between speed and power to predict changes in performance. Of course, you could use historical data to understand what the rate of degradation of the performance of the vessels is. But, how easily and how often a Superintendent Engineer with excessive workload, can use historical data to understand the rate of degradation?

So, new technologies bring shifts in the way things are done. Bringing AI, analytics, and automation together will increase the ability to predict, forecast, optimize, improve safety, reduce risk, and finally to “monetize” the data.

At MTIS, AI is no longer a novel concept. As a technology company, we have embraced AI wholeheartedly. While some tech companies may approach AI with caution, we recognize the immense potential of AI to drive the next phase of growth for our portfolio. This vision excites many, Mr. Marinakis stated with unwavering conviction.

Q: Though still seen by many as toys, aerial drones are transforming industries such as defense, logistics, agriculture, and more. How could drones change the shipping industry?

A: We are at a unique moment, on the cusp of a huge revolution. It is a moment that reminds me of a few extremely disruptive and unprecedentedly challenging periods. For example, I can vividly recall the birth of the internet, the adoption of smartphones, the launch of cloud services,  the concept of adding sensors and intelligence to physical objects (IoT), recently the rollout of 5G wireless communication and the networks of small satellites in low Earth orbit, like Starlink.

Thankfully, extremely disruptive, and unprecedented challenges continue to exist at the crossroads of impossible, hard work and innovative technologies, helping business to improve, adapt, and overcome. The evolution of drones is a typical example!

Rooted in military research and development over the previous years, the first use of drones for non-military purposes started in 2006. Ten years later, November 2016 marked an important moment in the commercial drone segment. It’s when drone delivery pizza became a reality. It’s when Domino’s teamed up with its drone delivery partner to drop off a pizza order at a customer’s door.

Since then, the proofs of concept and use cases seem endless as more and more industries discover ways that drones benefit their business, and the maritime sector is not an exception.

In the maritime sector, one of the most interesting use cases for drones is in surveying. Ship management teams, classification societies, and port/flag state surveyors regularly need to conduct surveys in hard-to-reach remote locations to assess the vessel’s condition. By using drones, survey teams can reduce preparation time, eliminate staging cost, rafts, and boats, minimize the risk of damage, and last but not least, maximize safety for personnel.

Furthermore, drones can also be considered cameras able to capture videos and pictures from a variety of angles and are not limited to a particular area. So, one only drone could be used to collect more and better information than a series of cameras scattered in fixed locations. Even in low visibility, drones equipped with thermal camera, radio detection, and other sensors can “see” in complete darkness and well beyond the normal capability of a ship, VTS, or coastguard land station. Moreover, when combined with info from stationary cameras, organizations can use drones to enable complete situational awareness. Well, the kind of impact drones have for security and surveillance is obvious, but those same benefits are even more evident when used for search & rescue purposes.

Drone-based delivery to ships at sea is also a reality and makes significant sense in certain regions and conditions, where the costs and logistics of traditional delivery create considerable barriers. The delivery of light, time-sensitive packages like documents, spare parts, medical supplies, or even cash-to-master by drone could reduce the scale and complexity of such duties and tasks making deliveries safer, cheaper, and easier when compared to a launch boat.

In the same way, drones can simply be thought of as sensors in the sky. Equipped with lightweight gas sensors and UAV-adapted sensory algorithms, the drone may efficiently detect, monitor and report real-time, the dispersion of specified gases in the atmosphere.

Saying all of this, I believe that we’re just at the beginning phases of where and how this technology can change the shipping industry.

Q: How will digitization help Shipping companies tackle today’s challenges while building a stronger digital future?

Maritime executives across the globe are dealing with an unprecedented series of challenges from a multitude of areas.

The need to address geopolitical tensions, product and skills shortages, rising operating costs, new regulations and environmental issues have become the most immediate and urgent priorities for businesses. In this respect, as technology providers, we have all a responsibility to help the market we serve understand and utilize technology to reinvent their business models, seize various opportunities, and solve their most pressing challenges. By adopting a comprehensive and forward-looking technology approach, shipping companies can unlock more value with fewer resources, improved operations with less energy consumption, and achieve optimum performance with reduced investment.

It is without doubt that more digitally advanced companies are greener, more productive, competitive  and sustainable. Take a moment and think about the major disruption to supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic. During that period, the shipping industry experienced a spur of technology adoption and transformation,  which proved the value of digitization. Whether through communication and collaboration platforms or increased automation and enhanced control from shore side operations, the period provided a move towards remote performance monitoring, electronic surveillance systems and productivity tools that keeps teams connected, but also demonstrated the fragility of a global economy that was not prepared for a such disruption.

So, further accelerating digital transformation will better us to respond to today’s opportunities and uncertainties; while building the new capabilities and solutions we need to tackle those of tomorrow.

Q: One final question: MTIS’s continued success and rapid growth are at the center of every technology conversation. What key factors contributed to its rapid and significant success?

It is true that we have made important steps in recent years, Mr. Marinakis emphasizes, because of which MTIS and Greek technology secure a prominent position both in Greece and globally.

Let me explain further. Emerging technologies such as the networks of small satellites in low Earth orbit, the fifth generation of cellular wireless communications (5G), Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, and Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have been receiving a lot of attention lately from policymakers, investors, markets and businesses that rely on it to simplify their processes, reduce costs, increase efficiency and profitability.

However, in order to reap the full benefits of these different technologies when seamlessly integrated together, many networking, protocols, architectural, services, interoperability and business challenges need to be addressed.

In fact, these challenges led MTIS to the creation of an innovative Cloud-Based IoT Operational Platform, meeting the requirements for seamless integration, flexibility, scalability, efficiency and modularity, with easy adjustments to new scenarios and use cases throughout the lifetime of a maritime digitalization project.

Hence, the MTIS platform known as i-Platform©, delivers highly customized and personalized services in real time, by meticulously considering the available network, the specific data frame requested, and individual user preferences.

Moreover, thanks to its distributed nature, the i-Platform© is able to transform the sensor signals into human-perceivable data, understand the patterns and trends emerging from that data, the impact any operational variables may have on the behavior of these data and proactively recommend actions and measures (e.g. using sensor-based data to predict potential breakdowns and recommend preventative repairs or part replacements before problems occur), that are applicable and tailored to the preferences of each individual maritime segment, company and user.

So, we are talking about a cutting-edge innovation, which is transforming the shipping industry and shaping its future in remarkable ways. At this point, I feel justified in claiming that our accomplishments fill us with pride.